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The Soothmoother Mountain treasures

The Western Cape in South Africa is an amazing area filled with remarkable places and
hidden botanical riches. Recently I’ve had the extra good fortune to be allowed to visit the
Fizantakraal Farm, a private estate owned by Mr. Dan Womersley, nestled high in the Klein
Drakenstein Mountains above the Du Toitskloof Pass just outside Paarl.
Fizantakraal Farm is mainly involved in ecotourism, offering luxury accommodation,
access to hiking trails and fishing spots as well as peace and quiet in the surrounds of the
unique Cape Fold Mountains and its Cape Fynbos. The farm also takes advantage of the

economic potential of its rich and diverse Cape Fynbos botanics to satisfy a limited
number of private orders in the floral and medicinal plant industry.

Revenue generated by the combination of limited eco-tourism and selective fynbos
harvesting are invested back into the estate to maintain and improve the estate’s unspoiled
nature and support the small community of people dedicated to preserving this unique
botanical heritage. Careful management of this preserve shows that this limited
commercial activity with such a small carbon footprint can be still successful and even
profitable in such a remote area.
The Cape Fold Belt is a fold and thrust belt of late Paleozoic age, mainly consisting of
layered quartzitic sandstones and shales from the Cape Supergroup in Southern Africa.